Brown in the Dumps

Posted on Jun 4, 2009

World Economic Forum

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has lost three members of his Cabinet in three days, adding to a heap of political casualties that originally grew out of an expense claims scandal. The latest dropout, James Purnell, has called on his former boss to “stand aside to give our party a fighting chance. ... ”

BBC:

[Purnell] wrote: “I now believe your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more, not less likely. That would be disastrous for our country.”

He added: “I am therefore calling on you to stand aside to give our party a fighting chance of winning. As such I am resigning from government.”

To be sure, New Labour was always pretty awful. I, for one, won’t mourn the passing of their “project.” But regarding the present situation, it should be noted that some of those now jumping ship already knew that once the local and European elections were over they were going to be pushed overboard for financial improprieties—using their parliamentary privileges to feather their own little nests. It should also be noted that those doing the jumping are Blairites who have been doing what they could to damage the Brownite faction of New Labour since long before Brown became Prime Minister. It would certainly be a positive outcome for Britain were it to transpire that they, the Blairites, had destroyed themselves politically while engaging in the sort of politics for which they, like their master, have long been noted. Too bad, however, that Britain nowadays seems to be lacking any politicians of stature and integrity and that their political parties are either insignificant or else collections of mediocrities.